


In Saltare Veritas

by merr



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Anachronism, Confessions, Dancing, Developing Relationship, M/M, Songfic, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-31 16:52:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merr/pseuds/merr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say in vino veritas -- but what about in dance?<br/>Sam and Daniel's dances: <a href="http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=XXEZjTjs8i4">Robyn - Dancehall Queen</a>, <a href="http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=LbqzEzyunEk">Robyn - None Of Dem (featuring Röyksopp)</a><br/>Last Dance: <a href="http://endlessvideo.com/watch?v=zYXjLbMZFmo">Alex Clare - Too Close</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	In Saltare Veritas

Sam tugged at the back of her hair, curling her fingertips to pull a bit more volume into place then let her hand fall to cup the back of her neck, short clipped fingernails clean and clear. She gazed out the window as the streetlights ticked by, feeling the hum of the bus under her and smiling softly -- it'd been far too long since she'd gone out.

She crossed her legs absently, one heeled, knee high boot flashing over the other, her pale blue leggings whispering to one another; as she tugged at the hem of her dark-grey tank top, her navel-length necklace chimed its excitement in, too. She could only dance in her apartment with headphones for so long before she missed the thudding bass, resonating in her chest and flushing the tension out that built up mission after mission. As she stepped off the bus and made her way to the line, she smiled at a sudden breeze in the sweltering Colorado night.

She remembered how nervous she'd always been in line after she'd graduated from the Academy -- she already struggled with a small degree of objectification and didn't really want to deal with the tensions it might bring up in her career. _Hormone ridden young adults will be hormone ridden young adults, no matter where they go to college..._ she grinned to herself. She'd also always been embarrassed about wanting to dance, wanting to lose herself in the noise and crowd. She knew it was a strange juxtaposition, but it made sense to her and she was satisfied with that.

Sam felt the lilting melody and slow drive beat the second she stepped in the door and it felt like a drug. She made her way down the stairs, surreptitiously in time with the bass, feeling as at home here as she did in a astrophysics seminar. She breezed by the booths, the bar, the lounge and slipped into the crowd, shoulders already rolling in time, her lips curled in a smile.

Daniel, who had been laughing at Teal'c's grimace as he tapped the empty shot glass down, leaned his head closer to Janet as she shook his forearm, pointing to Sam as she slipped out of sight. Daniel blinked and smiled back at the doctor's inquisitive face, mouthing, "Yup!"

He'd been dancing more than once with his closest friend, getting more than a couple looks at the picture they made, moving slow in time, hip to hip, heating the air around them -- which made them both laugh as they relived it on Daniel's couch, passing a pint of buttered rum ice cream back and forth. They also took swing classes together, but nothing made them laugh like the low-pressure, high-heat dance club shenanigans they pulled.

Daniel motioned for Janet to let him out of the semi-circle booth and shot a grin back at the two before he slipped into the crowd after Sam. Janet's mouth gaped and Teal'c's eyebrow nearly crawled off his head as he inquired. Janet leaned in, shouting, "Sam just showed up... and I think Daniel's going to find her!"

Finding her wasn't hard at all -- she was close to the platform, as always, her face lit up as she twisted her torso in time, hips making a figure-eight, completely oblivious to the stares locking onto her one at a time. He sidled up behind her, square fingertips finding her sides as he dropped his body into time with hers. She rolled forward, used to extracting herself from the occasional friendly stranger -- but rolled back as Daniel leaned in to joke, "I'm crushed, you went dancing without me!"

She turned her head, smile widening and bumped her butt against him, grinding slow, "You said you were taking Teal'c drinking or I would have invited you!" Daniel rolled his sleeves up in two quick flicks and then gripped her hips lightly, laughing as they leaned to opposite sides, heads dipping, grinning at their ongoing inside joke. She could count the number of women Daniel'd been with on one hand, even though nearly every bit of his demeanor (including the way he danced, she thought with amusement, seeing a busty brunette flush as she glanced Daniel up and down) signaled he was as straight as a proverbial arrow.

As the song wound down and another started, both of them snorted while the man at the music controls crowed, "Careful there, Bonny and Clyde down in front -- there's still a water restriction on," before cranking the music back up, rolling the crowd headfirst into a loping remix of a dance song they both knew like the backs of their hands. The two intellectuals got lost in one another, stepping in time, relaxed jeans stretching tight across Daniel's runner thighs while Sam's necklace swayed from side to side.

They turned slow, almost as if under water, to face one another, Sam putting one hand over Daniel's shoulder and pulling him close to press their foreheads together. Two pairs of blue eyes locked in the flickering lights as their legs moved in time, steps falling just so, shoulders rolling just there -- and as the crowd widened on the dance floor, so did the crowd on the stairs as Jack stomped down them, looking irritated. He'd meant to meet Daniel, Teal'c and the Doc here a couple hours ago but his car had overheated in the traffic coming down the mountain, making him later than his overdue mission report had managed to in the first place.

He glanced around the booths as he stepped into the main dancehall, hunting for one of Teal'c's signature head coverings, tugging his own hat down a bit. "Ah-ah!" He dodged a waitress in hotpants and a grinding couple as he made his way over, brushing his black t-shirt and the dogtags beneath back into place. He slid into the booth next to Teal'c, tossing his hat on the table beside a dozen empty glasses, "So, how drunk have they managed to get you, buddy?"

Teal'c blinked and turned his eyes toward Jack before flicking them back out toward the stage, "I am... not under the influence of alcohol, O'Neill."

A huge grin burst out on Jack's face and he clapped the Jaffa on the back -- "Wow, they actually managed to get you drunk? Never heard you stutter before, big guy. Junior must be pickled alive." He glanced at Fraiser, who was also looking a little glazed-over in the eyes and shook his head with a laugh, "Looks like I've got some catching up to do. Gonna go get a drink."

He slipped out of the booth, combat boots carrying him in a beeline to the bar. Once he'd ordered two shots of whiskey and a beer ("On the house, sir -- thanks for everything you do." ...It always made Jack a little awkward when people did things like that. _If they knew half the things I've done in the name of the 'land of the brave', I doubt they'd be showering me in free booze..._ ), he turned and leaned his lower back on the rail, propping his elbows against the hardwood bar. The bartender got him the shots right away but had to walk to the other end of the bar for his beer; Jack shrugged, took one shot and then settled back as he was to wait.

He glanced from person to person as he felt the booze leave a line of warmth down his torso, reminiscing just a bit about his early twenties as he watched the lights and movement with mild amusement -- until he spied the epicenter of the writhing crowd.

Jack was suddenly and painfully aware of the present -- and his jeans becoming less comfortable by the second. He drew his elbows off the bar, picked up his second shot, asking the tender to have a waitress bring his beer over whenever as he headed back to the booth, sitting down hastily next to Teal'c. He couldn't stop watching, for the life of him, even though subconscious was now a klaxon, squawking about inter-team power dynamics and the inappropriate levels of jealousy and desire running one another in circles as his heart rate climbed.

The waitress came and went and not a single one of them batted an eyelash -- though Jack did take his second shot, then automatically reached forward to take a swig of his beer, the cold liquid soothing to his suddenly parched throat. He muttered to himself, "How can someone so damned _clumsy_ even _move_ like that?" to which Teal'c replied in a voice just a bit lower than normal, "Samantha has never appeared clumsy in my observations, O'Neill." Jack didn't correct the Jaffa; he was too busy taking another swig of cold beer.

Both Sam and Daniel were sweating a bit by the breakdown of the song and they took the chance to stand back to back, leaning against one another with spines arching and undulating in a mirror image as they wound lower and lower, putting all of their long hours of PT to use in a way Jack had never envisioned while barking at them to _do another three laps, dammit! A bunch of Jaffa won't give you a chance to rest and neither will I!_

As they pushed off one another, winding their way back up, Daniel shot a glance over at the booth -- and jerked a bit as he saw a familiar silver-haired man glaring in their direction. He kept in time with the music, knowing the song was almost over, but turned away from the booth, pulling Sam into his arms by her hips to lean close and mutter in her ear, "Uh, Jack's here. And he looks pissed." She didn't even freeze for a second -- the blonde just rolled her shoulders, leaning harder back into Daniel's chest, "You're a civilian, we're on leave and I'm having too much fun to care -- he's probably just jealous!"

Daniel couldn't help but grin as the song petered out to silence and he nudged her shoulder with his, "I'd probably be jealous, too, if I saw someone dancing with you like that." Sam gave him her signature mischievous glance from, uncharacteristically, under her eyelashes and grabbed his hand to drag him toward the booth where the rest of their team and Fraiser were trying to regain their relative composure. Though Daniel knew Sam was more interested in another member of the military currently trying to regain composure in the booth, he thought Jack would be a fool not to want Sam; it didn't make him sad, anymore. The worst he felt, after all these years, was a bit of guilt now and then for finding it amusing that Jack wanted someone who was very unlikely to give a damn.

Janet reached back to adjust her hair clip, her face a bit flushed as she snapped her fingers in front of Jack's face, then Teal'c's, "Song's over gentlemen; they're coming this way."

Jack cleared his throat, taking another swig of beer and Teal'c reached out to take another shot -- even if it wouldn't get him drunk, it did give him something to do as Sam bounced up, her cheeks flushed and a huge smile on her face, "Sir! I had no idea you liked dance music!"

Jack squinted at her, pointedly not looking Daniel up and down; nope, definitely not taking stock of how Daniel's impossibly long legs looked in pants that actually fit him or the way his rolled-up sleeves showed off the muscles in his forearms and wrists. Nope, leering was not something colonels did.

"Carter, I had no idea you liked to... dance," he said dryly, raising an eyebrow at her.

She was too busy waving over a waitress to let his feeble attempt at sarcasm dampen her mood, and after she'd signaled for two waters, she plopped down next to Janet, "We can do swing, too. And if you want to learn, you could always ask Daniel for pointers; I'm sure he wouldn't mind teaching you a thing or two."

Daniel, who'd been forced to sit down next to Jack or else stand at the edge of the booth awkwardly, snapped Sam a short, halfway nervous glare: _Sam, watch it... you promised._

She -- for the love of _god_ \-- actually _winked_ at him and cleared her throat, saying something loudly to Janet about how'd she'd pay money to see those two dancing together, which made both women dissolve into laughter. Judging the way Jack had scooted over far enough he was almost sitting on Teal'c's lap, Daniel doubted the colonel wanted to dance with him -- which was a growing source of inner conflict in the archaeologist. _Well, not the not dancing thing that bothers me; more like the not loving --_

"Oh yeah, ladies? How much money are we talking here?" Jack was smirking over his near-empty beer bottle.

Daniel's eyes flicked wide and he rounded on Jack who was staring at the two women with a gaze just as level as his voice'd been. Janet had a grin so big across her face, Daniel had a feeling it wasn't just the two captain-and-cokes she'd drank talking when she replied, "That depends on how well you two dance, now, doesn't it?"

He opened his mouth to protest and Jack shot him a quick glance, "So, Doctor Jackson, want to make a few bucks?" Daniel blinked a few times, lost for words and Jack laughed, finished his beer and clicked it down on the table before scooting toward Daniel to get out of the booth, "Oh don't give me that look -- I'm only in my early forties, not a hundred and ten. 'Sides, already know how to swingdance." 

Janet and Sam couldn't stop giggling onto one another's shoulders like teenagers and Daniel narrowed his eyes -- Jack was clearly enjoying the attention and the brunet wouldn't put it past the colonel to take this opportunity to try and show him up.

"If you start having a heart attack, let me know, will you?" Daniel asked airily as he got to his feet, hearing the first few notes of a dance-mixed slower, heavier song start. As the lights went from neon green and pink to dark reds and purples, he couldn't help but think: _This is completely insane, completely and utterly --_ He felt his heart leap as Jack dropped an arm around his waist, slipped one of his hands into the younger man's back pocket and started leading him to the edge of the dance floor. Daniel squinted over at Jack as the silver-haired man shot a downright smarmy grin back at Sam and Janet before turning the same grin on him.

Daniel raised an eyebrow at Jack, digging down into the pit of his stomach for some bravery -- the two raspberry long island iced teas nestled there helped a bit and he took a small but firm step to the side, expecting Jack's hand to fall out of his pocket so they could fall into the beat, safely at least a foot and a half apart. What he wasn't expecting was the pinch Jack gave him before he let them separate -- a pinch the younger man would've swore he imagined if it weren't for the slow burn starting in the colonel's dark eyes as he started moving in time with the music.

Daniel was standing there, dumbfounded as Jack said, "...Cat got your toes, Jackson? Shouldn't keep the ladies waiting, you know." Daniel tried to focus on finding movements of his own but couldn't get past how natural -- against all logic and odds -- Jack looked rolling his shoulder forward, twisting his torso just so.

It was relatively early for Jack's hair to be so gray -- something he'd repeatedly blamed on Daniel almost getting killed twice a week -- but his silver head was about the only thing that looked older than thirty on the airman as the brunette who'd been eyeing Daniel up earlier slipped between the two men, facing the younger man with a grin on her face, "Room for one more, gentlemen?"

Daniel blinked at the woman, still confused as hell about Jack's newly discovered adaptability which was currently displaying itself in the way the colonel's hands slipped onto the woman's waist, a thigh rolling forward against her round butt. Daniel found himself still frozen as the woman snaked her arms around his neck, loosely, rolling her hips first back and then forward as she grinned up at him. Daniel's eyes shifted from her face to Jack's and the cold snap in his body turned a searing one-eighty; Jack's eyes were burning harder than ever, those lips turning up in a smug grin. Daniel did the only reasonable thing he could think of and bolted.

The lyrics of the song pounded at him -- _At the end of it all, you're still my best friend_ \-- as he shouldered through the crowd, ran up the stairs and slipped out into the sweltering night. He took a couple deep breaths, letting his pace carry him a half a block away before he slowed to a brisk walk, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He kept walking, head ducked down as the heat made him sweat even worse than he'd started to on the dancefloor.

He couldn't control the rush of emotion gripping him at Jack's gaze anymore than he could explain the moments before said gaze. _...What the hell was that? What the hell's he playing at?_ he kept thinking over and over, unconsciously picking up his pace. He couldn't shake the feeling creeping up on him that if he didn't get far enough away fast enough, Jack was going to --

"Daniel! Hey! Slow down!"

Daniel's head snapped up as he whipped around at the waist, eyes locking onto Jack loping after him and, for the second time that night, he took off running like a rabbit. He heard Jack swear, heard the footsteps pounding behind him and tried to put on another burst of speed -- _There's no way I can face him, no way I can keep my mouth shut right now --_

"Daniel! Come back here, dammit!"

Daniel slipped into the next alleyway he found and damn near laid himself out by running into a dumpster. He whipped around, panting, the reality of the situation boring down on him along with the scent of trash. _Holy shit, holy shit, he's gonna --_

Jack was at the mouth of the alleyway then, panting as he leaned over slightly, "Christ, Danny. Don't make me run with booze in my stomach, s'enough to -- hey!"

Daniel tried to make a break for it, pride but a distant memory by then, and Jack snagged him by the arm with a firm hand, "Dammit, Daniel, stop. Just... just stop and calm down for a minute."

Jack's touch lit a fire in him and he broke out in sweat double time -- his shirt was sticking to his back, he could feel hair sticking to his forehead and his eyes were wide, pinned open as hard as his lips were clamped shut. 

Jack damn near frog marched him away from the alley, grumbling about the stink, and Daniel could almost feel the jaw muscles jumping under silver stubble; he couldn't find the words but Jack didn't seem to need them. When the scent of rotting summer trash was gone, Jack stopped and loosened his grip a bit, dark eyes searching Daniel's face.

"If I let you go, are you gonna take off again?"

Daniel shook his head dumbly before reaching up to wipe some sweat from his temple, pushed what few bangs Hathor had left him back and away from his forehead.

Jack squinted at him for a second, then nodded and let go of his arm, slowly, almost reluctantly. Daniel kicked himself. _Stop, stop it, he was just teasing Sam and Janet, don't do this to yourself._

Jack was pulling at his shirt, picking it away from his chest and fanning it to get air moving and Daniel could smell the other man; it made his knees weak and he stepped back, sat heavily on the recessed doorstep of the closed business they'd stopped in front of. Jack sat down next to him, their hips brushing for a second until the older man got settled. 

"So. What's with the disappearing act?"

Daniel turned his head slightly, glanced at Jack before pushing his glasses up and clearing his throat. He meant to speak, he did, but the words tripped over themselves and he ended up shrugging lamely instead. 

Jack sighed, propped his elbows on his knees and folded his hands together. His voice was low, earnest: "Was it the, uh, the dancing thing?"

Daniel felt a small sting of frustration bloom into a well as he ground out, "You're not stupid, Jack. Stop playing at it right now, please, for my sake?"

Jack twisted his twined fingers against each other, turning to meet Daniel's gaze, "I'm... not playing at anything. Just want to know why it... upset you so much."

Daniel turned his head away, breaking the gaze as his hormones started swirling up and over his anger. God damn Jack for being so close; damn him for how perfectly his arm had fit around the brunet's waist, for the perfect amount of pressure in his pinch, teasing, flirting -- oblivious.

"...You're an asshole, you know that Jack?"

The colonel gave a snort of laughter and he leaned back on his hands before he spoke, squinting up at the yellow streetlight, noting the moths twirling, falling, redoubling their efforts, "And that's what made you run? The sudden realization that I'm..." 

Jack trailed off, lifting one hand to gesture vaguely. He knew he shouldn't have been so forward but the way Daniel'd been dancing... it made him dumb with desire, stupid with longing. He stared at the largest moth, followed it with his eyes as he planted his palm back on the concrete stair.

Daniel turned his head toward Jack, watching him watch the insect and made a split-second decision. He turned his body toward the older man, heart thumping as everything seemed to slow down into bullet time -- the twist of his hip-bones felt like an eternity, the rise of his arm felt like a mountain swelling up at the edge of frustrated tectonic plates. Then time was back, snapping into place as he felt his lips close over Jack's. 

The force of Daniel crashing into him didn't knock Jack over, but he fell to his back anyway as he brought his hands up to cradle the younger man's head, making a choked noise even as he slipped his tongue into the younger man's mouth. Daniel let out a little huff of breath and Jack pulled him closer, catching him around the lower back with one arm; their kiss was hidden from view, but a taxi driver shook his head as he passed, Jack's feet planted on the sidewalk, knees bent, Daniel's feet just visible as he knelt at the edge of the ledge. 

By the time they broke for air, both men were sweating again, eyes glittering -- blue ones with awe, brown ones with hard, thick hope. Both mouths were swollen with desire and Daniel panted quietly, voice low and wondering at the same time, "Your stubble's sharp."

Jack laughed, loosening the arm around Daniel's waist to rub a hand over his own chin and jaw, "S' been a long day."

Daniel couldn't help himself -- Jack's grin was infections and he felt his face split in a smile. Then Jack was sitting up, pulling him up, pulling them both to their feet. He held onto Daniel's hand a second longer than was necessary before letting go to glance at his watch. When he looked up, Daniel's eyes were on his in a second, crinkled slightly in a grin that wouldn't fade for days. 

Jack gestured back toward the dancehall, voice casually playful, "So. There's a diner a couple blocks past the bar. Could I tempt you with sobering late-night coffee and conversation, Doctor Jackson? I'll even buy."

Daniel let out a short laugh, his heart climbing up, up, the casual acceptance of the night's developments washing over him in calming waves as he shrugged and started walking, "I'd be a fool to turn down an offer like that."

He heard Jack snort behind him, then take a couple steps to catch up, hands still planted in his pockets as he grinned and accused, "Addict."

Daniel shook his head once, laughing again before he shot back, "Enabler."

"Just call 'em as I see 'em, Danny," Jack rumbled and bumped the other man's shoulder with his own, making Daniel fumble a bit before shoulder-checking him back. The two men burst into laughter, weaving in time down the sidewalk toward the yellow light of the greasy spoon, feet falling naturally into a whole new dance.


End file.
